What about the Bucs?

With all the chatter about a potential new Rays crib just west of and across the street from The Licht House, Joe has to wonder what the conversations are like in the third-story boardroom at One Buc Palace as Team Glazer nurses glasses of Hennessy X.O.

Team Glazer has let out a whisper or two in recent years that over the horizon, something new will one day have to rise for the Bucs, which just celebrated their 50th season as Tampa’s NFL franchise. Obviously, no stadium lasts forever.

Probably a major gutting and rebuild of The Licht House would be a plan, Joe thinks, sort of like what Stephen Ross did to Hard Rock Stadium in South Florida.

Back in April, Bucs owner/co-chairman Joel Glazer was on record that the team plans a “massive renovation” of The Licht House. No details have ever been released.

Back in March 2025, Bret McCormick and Ben Fischer of the Sports Business Journal typed a long story on stadium/arena issues with Tampa Bay’s three major sports teams: Bucs, Rays and Lightning.

McCormick and Fischer seemed to conclude the Rays would eventually stay in Pinellas County because Hillsborough County/City of Tampa wouldn’t have the money to bankroll both a new Rays crib and a renovated Bucs stadium.

Joe got to thinking about this (again) when reading an article from Alex Kennedy of BSPN featuring the oldest stadiums in the NFL. Would you believe the Bucs have the sixth-oldest stadium in the NFC?

From 1976 through 1997, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers played their home games at Tampa Stadium (aka The Big Sombrero). However, it became clear that the Bucs needed an upgrade, and Raymond James Stadium opened in 1998. The USF Bulls also play their home games at Ray J, and the stadium has been the site of three Super Bowls (including Super Bowl LV, which the Buccaneers won, becoming the first team to win the Lombardi Trophy in their own stadium). Perhaps the most famous aspect of this stadium is the replica pirate ship in the north end zone.

So Team Glazer has been planning a renovation for the stadium on Dale Mabry Highway long before the Rays were even sold to a group fronted by real estate mogul Patrick Zalupski last summer. But did Zalupski and the Rays butt in line in front of Team Glazer for stadium financing with their splash of acquiring land from Hillsborough Community College for their project?

Team Glazer has always worked in the shadows and always strives to keep their business behind closed doors whenever possible. Did that long-held strategy backfire now that the Rays have grabbed the stadium headlines and momentum, along with very open, public support from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, for a new stadium and mixed-use entertainment complex right in the Bucs’ front yard?

Interesting times in Tampa.